A Macquarie University report has highlighted the over administration of antibiotics to residents of aged care homes.
The reseach showed almost 70 per cent of residents of aged care facilities in Australia received an antibiotic over a year, compared to 54 per cent in the United Kingdom, and 63 per cent in the Netherlands and North America.
Analysis showed that only 28.5 per cent of the antibiotic courses were appropriate.
"Antibiotics should only be given if the patient has symptoms consistent with an infection requiring antibiotic treatment. There are clear guidelines for the use of antibiotics and the data suggest that people in Australian residential aged care facilities are being prescribed antibiotics too often," said Dr Magda Raban, Senior Research Fellow with the Australian Institute of Health Innovation, Macquarie University.
Inappropriate use of antibiotics is a key contributor to increasing antimicrobial resistance which the World Health Organization has identified as a major threat to global health.
Dr Raban is part of a push to improve the way medication is managed in aged care. "Using current systems, some aged care facilities find it difficult to monitor what medication their residents are taking, for how long, and if it is appropriate. By linking IT systems, we can provide real time data that alerts a facility if a patient is taking antibiotics when their condition does not warrant this."
The research is published in the international journal, PLoS One.